In this series we’ll take a fresh look at resources and how they are used. We’ll go beyond natural resources like air and water to look at how efficiency in raw materials can boost the bottom line and help the environment. We’ll also examine the circular economy and design for reuse — with an eye toward honoring those resources we do have.

While changes at home can’t solve the many environmental crises we face today, they can sure help. Through this series, we’ll explore how initiatives like curbside compost pick-up, rebates on compost bins, and efficient appliances can help families reduce their impact without breaking the bank.

Despite decades -- centuries even -- of global efforts, slavery can still be found not just on the high seas, but around the world and throughout various supply chains. Through this series on forced labor, sponsored by C&A Foundation, we’ll explore many different types of bonded and forced labor and highlight industries where this practice is alive and well today.

In this series we examine how companies should respond to national controversy like police violence and the BLM movement to best support employees and how can companies work to improve equality by increasing diversity in their ranks directly.

Compost is often considered a panacea for the United States’ tremendous food waste problem. Indeed, composting is a much better option than putting spoiled food in a garbage can destined for a landfill.

No matter how privatized healthcare is in America, at the end of the day it remains a social sustainability issue and a government concern. That’s why America’s newly minted CTO Todd Park is sparking health care innovation and reform through liberation of data from the vaults of NIH, FDA, CMS, USDA, CDC and other government health agencies. Park believes that de-centralization and data liberation leads to empowerment and innovation. In this interview at the Healthcare Experience Design Conference in Boston, Park outlines his initiatives to catalyze the ecosystem of health services by unlocking data.

Prior to being appointed the CTO of America to the White House, Park was a successful health IT entrepreneur who co-founded Athenahealth and Castlight, then served as the CTO at Health and Human Services (HHS). His Health Data Initiative (HDI) is mandating that HHS agency data be publicly accessible in machine readable format using APIs. Data being liberated include:

Community health data. Find it at healthindicators.gov, with 1770 metrics on community health performance

Consumer personal health data. Blue Button initiative, led by department of Veteran Affairs in conjunction with DoD and Medicare is allowing every veteran to download personal health data from a secure website. The Blue Button has trickled to private sector health providers as well.

This data liberation is catalyzing entrepreneurs to create products and services to help consumers, patients, doctors, nurses, and other health professionals both seek and deliver better care. The data is also enabling tools that help doctors get a sense of patient population trends, that help journalists identify key report worthy issues such as health disparities and that help officials see food deserts so they can craft better policy.

The third annual Health Datapalooza, on June 5-6 in Washington, DC, will again be showcasing 50 of the best innovations developed by companies using open health data. Apply to be a speaker by March 30th to compete for a showcase slot. Find out about open health data and more at HealthData.gov.

Connie Kwanis the CEO of RealMealz.comin Silicon Valley, CA. She holds an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School, and covers stories on food and health sustainability. Follow her on Twitter@RealMealzand@conniemkwan.

Connie Kwan is a Product Manager and Entrepreneur based in Silicon Valley, CA. She builds teams to deliver products that benefit people, planet and profit. She holds an MBA in Sustainability at Presidio Graduate School and blogs about sustainability and business at Sustainable Thinking: Applied (http://blog.conniekwan.com)